13/04/21 subject:- English chapter 1 A letter to God

English Classwork

A letter to God 

     Page no. 9

III. Relative Clauses

Look at these sentences

(a) All morning Lencho ---- who knew his fields intimately ----looked at the sky.

(b) The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, "Yes, God willing." 

The italicised parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho and the woman. We call them relative clauses. Notice that they begin with a relative pronoun who. Other common relative pronouns are whom, whose, and which.

The relative clauses in (a) and (b) above are called non-defining, because we already know the identity of the person they describe. Lencho is a particular person, and there is a particular woman he speaks to. We don't need the information in the relative clause to pick these people out from a larger set.

A non-defining relative clause usually has a comma in front of it and a comma after it (some writers use a dash (--) instead, as in the story). If the relative clause comes at the end, we just put a full stop.

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested.

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which) 

2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)

3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)

4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)

5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)

Sometimes the relative pronoun in a relative clause remains ‘hidden’. For example, look at the first sentence of the story:

(a) The house — the only one in the entire valley — sat on the crest of a low hill.

We can rewrite this sentence as:

(b) The house — which was the only one in the entire valley — sat on the crest of a low hill.

In (a), the relative pronoun which and the verb was are not present.

IV. Using Negatives for Emphasis

We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show the absence of something, or contradict something. For example:

(a) This year we will have no corn. (Corn will be absent)

(b) The hail has left nothing. (Absence of a crop)

(c) These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins.

(Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the sky are)

But sometims negative words are used just to emphasise an idea. Look at these sentences from the story:

(d) Lencho…had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east. (He had done only this)

(e) The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason)

(f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money.

(He showed no surprise at all)

Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to emphasise the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the ideas emphatically.

1. The trees lost all their leaves.

     __________________________________________________________

2. The letter was addressed to God himself

     __________________________________________________________

3. The postman saw this address for the frist time in his career.

     _____________________________________________________________

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